JournaMarketing

No idol necessary

Katya blogs about the Idol Gives Back campaign, the fundraiser organized by the producers of American Idol. It raised $70-million, but Katya has a great takeaway point:

"...remember, you DO NOT NEED AN IDOL to raise money. Idol is great for attracting a mass audience, and that audience is what led to the scale of the money raised, but it wasn’t Simon or Madonna who prompted giving as much as the compelling (and perhaps slightly exploitative, though effective) stories they showed about people in need on their show. While we’d all like an audience of that size, or a celebrity spokesperson, don’t despair if you don’t have an A-lister out promoting you."

What a great way of putting it! Now, more than ever, the important thing is that you're offering your community something valuable, and that you're effectively communicating that value by telling great stories. Think of yourself as a journalist-advocate -- telling stories for a cause, because you believe in that cause, and because the product or service you're offering can make a difference to people.

On a smaller scale, organizations often get hung up on their own "local idols." They spend so much time chasing after TV and radio and newspaper coverage, that they don't realize how easy it is to communicate directly with the people who care the most. Sure, you still need local media coverage of your events. But if you take the time to cultivate your community online, you'll be well-positioned to communicate important information when those "idols" of local media fail to come through for you.

Technorati Tags: nptech, nonprofit, marketing, PR, communications, American Idol, Idol Gives Back

Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences

I'm doing a test post for Darlene at Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences, to show how easy it is to add news to the website.

How my blog gained 1,000,000 spots on the Technorati rank in 2 days

When I started this JournaMarketing blog, my Technorati ranking was somewhere over 3,000,000.  I figured that was pretty good, for a start.  But little did I know that my blog would soon rocket up the charts to be currently ranked in the top 2,000,000, a mere two days later! I can only credit my solid upbringing by my parents, and a little hard work.  This truly is the Land of Opportunity.

clipped from technorati.com

JournaMarketing

Rank: 1,925,824 (22 links from 2 sites)

• URL: http://www.journamarketing.com
                   
• Tagged: advertising, blogs, journalism, journamarketing, marketing, new media, podcasting            
• Description: Doing great journalism to sell your ideas, your organization, and even yourself

Technorati Tags: technorati, blogging, journamarketing, humor

NAMI Wisconsin 2.0

The Wisconsin chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is jumping into Web 2.0! 

I'm excited to announce that Learfield InterAction will be working with NAMI Wisconsin to produce a series of podcasts on mental-health issues.  It's a way for NAMI to reach out to folks who might not otherwise get in-depth information on those issues.  And once the podcasts are up, we're hoping they'll be distributed, copied to CD's, and put into the hands of people who need to hear them.  When we're finished, the podcasts will be a really nice library of information on a wide range of topics.  Very cool -- I can't wait to get started!

Web vs. Radio

Mark Ramsey points to this nugget in the latest Benchmarking report from Borrell Associates:

"The largest local Web site in most markets, typically run by a local newspaper, will generate more in ad sales this year than the largest-grossing radio station in that market."

I had to say that aloud a couple of times to get my mind around it. Can that possibly be true for small and medium size markets? Des Moines, for example. Does the Des Moines Register website generate more ad sales than WHO (or whatever the top-grossing radio station)?

Ramsey correctly sees the web is an extension of your radio station, not simply a virtual press kit. "It's an extension of your brand, a place to deepen your relationship with your audience, and - most importantly for this discussion - a powerful tool for your advertisers."